Montana to Idaho to Washington to Oregon....27th, 28th, 29th July 2014

This post covers the three days of leaving our home for the past week in Columbia Falls in Montana and doing a hop, skip and a jump to  Columbia Gorge in Oregon......
Initially we retrace our journey down past beautiful Flathead Lake and what a difference a week makes, on our journey up to Columbia Falls last Sunday it was black skies and raining....

At Big Arm, Flathead Lake we turn west on the 28 and the landscape immediately changes once again to flat plains, rolling hills and grasslands and farming......

Just before Plains, Montana  a change back to forest and mountains...

Left turn at Plains and we are driving alongside not only my favourite, the railroad but also the scenic  Clark Fork River....

Lots of pull-outs alongside of The Clark Fork to stop for a leg stretch and lunch sandwich....

Our last pitstop for today at Lookout Pass on the I-90 and then another new State sticker for our map.....it has been a lovely scenic quiet drive, as soon as we crossed the border the road surface was terrible but it does prove to be for just a few miles...
We overnight in the small community of Osburn....although small we are pleased to discover a DIY car wash as our boy is filthy......

Day Two and back onto the I-90 west across the Pan Handle of Idaho then south across vast plains mainly turning from wheat fields to corn, fruit and vines.....the temperature has been increasing all day and by the time we arrive at our campsite in Pasco/Tri Cities, Washington State it is 105 F......as well we have booked 50 amp as we need both a/c units running....:)

Day three and back on the road, south to cross the Columbia River into Oregon...

I am in heaven there is a railroad line on both sides of this magnificent river !!!!

It's a lovely scenic drive with the river and the canyon, several rest areas/scenic viewpoints, never pass up the opportunity for a comfort break !!!

One of several dams on the river.....

Even with the railroad the Columbia River is still a "working" river....one of several barges that we saw today.....

Mount Hood......

Safe arrival at our campsite for a couple of days at Cascade Locks and time for a visit to the visitors centre and the "lock"
Sadly the lock is no more, when the river was damed the lock was no longer required as the water level was raised..... 

One of the sternwheelers  on the Columbia River.....

It's that lady again....we are still on the Lewis Clark Trail, this is  Sacagawea, mother of  "Pomp"  for those paying attention they will know Pompeys Pillar was named after him....
The temps are now a very pleasant 88F......

Hidden Lake Trail, Glacier NP.....26th July...

0630 alarm call to catch one of the early shuttles to Logan Pass and it's a wall to wall blue sky beautiful morning....
We plan to hike the Hidden Lake Trail and part of the High Line Trail.....

The Hidden Lake Trail is a one and a half mile hike with an elevation gain of 460 feet, the first part is on boardwalk then the fun starts.....this is the trail and it's uphill and quite slippery... 

But the views are breathtaking and it's such a beautiful morning.....

Just look at that sky......

Lots of mountain goats.....this little chap was really cute....

And here comes dad.....

The beautiful Hidden Lake but some old biddy got in the picture.....

That's better.....and a lovely view while having half of our lunch sandwich...

There is another mile and half hike with elevation drop of 760ft on from here down to the Lake but it's closed at the moment due to Grizzly Bear activity....

The hillside is covered with these beautiful Yellow Mountain Lily

Second half of today is to hike part of the High Line Trail......the actual trail is a very strenuous hike down to The Loop, the only switchback, on The Going To The Sun Road....it's an 11 mile strenuous hike with an elevation change of 2200ft !!
There is a shuttle bus stop at The Loop to take you either back up to Logan Pass or down to Avalanche Lake/Apgar Centre
2 seats are usually left on the shuttle buses to pick up hikers at The Loop...
This family of goats were on the rocks above the first part of the trail....

Yorkieman on the trail and "talking" to the goats...

The trail winds it's way along the rock face high above The Going To The Sun Road....

This is one of the wider sections of the "rock face" trail.....

The road and the trail above...

Stunning views down into the valley....also an excellent place to sit and finish our lunch sandwich...this was about a mile along the trail and as it's all uphill on the way back we call it a day and about turn....

It seems incredible that this packed snow can hang there....it is thawing underneath so we guess will slide down onto the road at some stage...apart from damage to wing mirrors the most damage is rocks falling on vehicles, in fact we overheard on the shuttle radio that one bus did get hit thankfully no injuries just a dent....
We have so enjoyed our time in stunning Glacier National Park, certainly one of our favourites.....we now bid a sad farewell as tomorrow we hitch up again to overnight in Osburn, Idaho.....

Driving The Going To The Sun Road......Many Glaciers....Friday 25th July

West Glacier Entrance....just inside is a Canadian Visitors Centre....Glacier NP and Waterton NP are jointly an International Peace Park World Heritage Site.....
Well bad news as we drive to the park,  Teryl from Better Views Blinds phones to say that they are unable to fix our blinds for us, she was very upset and apologetic, they had tried everything but there is a sealed portion of the workings which can only be fixed by the manufacturer....ho hum onto Plan C which at the moment is to buy 2 roller blinds or equivalent and fit ourselves....how hard can that be...ha ha we shall see...

We left the campsite in Columbia Falls, 15 miles from the entrance and it was partially cloudy but forecast is for a lovely sunny day....
This and next few photos are of MacDonald Creek that cascades down through these narrows into MacDonald Lake....

Beautiful clear aquamarine water.....

As we head up along the Going To The Sun Road look what comes the other way !!!!
They were still ploughing the road late June:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/GlacierNPS

This is Haystack Falls....it's fascinating how the water has stepped the falls, it makes it look man made but it's not....

As we head up to Logan Pass the clouds are thicker but some sun is trying to break through...wishful thinking ?
The road in the valley is the beginning of our days journey.......

Beautiful views back down through the valley....

The Weeping Wall...by mid August this will be reduced to a trickle....

The Road is an a amazing feat of engineering.....it was started in 1921 and finished in 1932 with only so many working days available in a year due to heavy snow fall....for more information on the construction of the road check out: http://visitmt.com/experiences/montana_extras/features/building.htm 

They have up to 80 feet of snow at Logan Pass....it takes 10 weeks to plough the road only completing on average  500ft per day.....the road is not usually opened until the end of June....

Bradda Ed our Hawaiian Hoola Man is still shaking his booty even though his skirt is shredding and he is getting paler by the day....on the rough sections of the  dirt road to Polebridge he hit his head on the windscreen several times and a small piece of his head gear broke off.......but he's our Lamb family mascot and has travelled many miles with us including our road trips in the US.....

One of the tunnels after Logan Pass going down the other side of the mountain to the east entrance of the park at St Mary..... 

Hurry up and take the picture, it's freezing out here !!!!

Cuddle up for warmth !!!!!
Although the clouds are thinning it is now really windy on this side of the mountain.....

This section of the road is not as dramatic but still interesting, it's a dirt road and at the moment has road works....some delays as parts are single lane with "pilot" car but we knew that and the wait was not too bad....

St Mary Lake, 4484ft elevation.....and blue skies !!!!
From here we exit the park and have a pleasant drive 21 miles to the Many Glaciers entrance of the park....
The wind is now blowing a hooley......

Oh wow we lucked out, we were parked in a scenic pull out deciding whether the waterfall we could see was worth leaving the truck for as the wind is so strong it's hard to get the doors open and  this mama Moose walks out from the wooded area and crosses the road...

Her little calf is just behind her...... this was our first close up moose sighting and in the safety of our car.....
It is so very windy that we take a quick look from the viewpoint of the Many Glacier Hotel originally built in the 1930's then manage to find a sheltered spot for our lunch sandwich then head back to Logan Pass and our return journey down The Going To The Sun Road.......

I have videos....

This and next pic The Weeping Wall.....

Going down requires more attention for the driver....the main accidents on the road are wing mirror damage.....

Wow what an amazing day.....this park is one of our favourites....
This fantastic day is rounded off by Yorkieman cooking yummy Bison steaks on the BBQ....
Another early alarm tomorrow, 0630, for our last day in the park and as it's Saturday it will be busy so up with the lark and away.....
The Very Happy Campers.....